09 Powerstroke Tranny - Montana Owners Club

Montana Sky · 11-08-2009, 04:06 AM

I found something else that appears to be off with my 350 last night. I had accidently shifted the truck into 3rd gear instead of drive. While working my way through a few redlights I realized this truck has little to no acceleration. The pedal was to the floor, and the turbo wound out, but the truck hardly moved. As power and boost built, the truck would finally start to roll. Bottom line, the tranny was starting the truck in 3rd gear. On my Duramax, if I had it in 3rd gear, it would start in 1st then shift to 2nd and finally into 3rd where it would hold 3rd until I manually shifted back into D. Are any of your Fords starting out in 3rd if have the gear shift in 3rd? This does not seem right to me at all...

stiles watson · 11-08-2009, 05:45 AM

If you were trying to get out of muddy or slick places and didn't want the torque of first or second gear, then you would understand why when you put it in a gear other than drive, it is in that gear.

Art-n-Marge · 11-08-2009, 09:10 AM

That sounds like a tranny problem. My truck always starts out in 1st and whatever gear the shifter is in will the the highest gear the truck uses, not the only gear. This is how I understand it's supposed to work in an automatic and I have noticed in all my years shifting automatics.

I had an old Ford Clubwagon van that I was shifting like that and it got stuck in second, wouldn't go up wouldn't go down. Fortunately you can always get the vehicle moving in second but can't go too fast, but I think you are lucky to get going in 3rd, at all. When I got it home and took the trans apart I found that a linkage had slipped loose. I put it back in place and tightened some things up (I think it was called "adjusting the bands") and never had a problem again. I would not try this with modern vehicles. They are way too complicated these days for me.

KTManiac · 11-08-2009, 10:22 AM

Tow/Haul engaged?

**Carl n Susan** · 11-08-2009, 11:34 AM

I think you will find this is the way it works. Read the owners manual and it will say that if 3rd gear is selected, the transmission uses only 3rd gear, no 1st or 2nd. The reason, they say, is to enable starting out in slippery or muddy conditions. There was a discussion of the "feature" over on one of the Ford Truck forums a month or so ago.

I haven't tested this myself as I forgot about it. I think now I will.

ehmcfarl · 11-08-2009, 11:41 AM

That seems to be the way a Ford transmission works. I found this out when I bought my 2003 Expedition, which was the first Ford I had owned in a lot of years. It drove me crazy. I live on a mountain and one of the roads up the mountain is fairly steep in places. I was accustomed to just dropping the transmission on my Grand Cherokee into 3rd gear when I started up the mountain so the transmission wouldn't be constantly down shifting and up shifting. But, when need be it would always downshift to 2nd if needed. Well, when I got the Ford I did the same thing and to my surprise I thought it was going to stall out the first time it needed to downshift to 2nd. It just wouldn't downshift to 2nd if I had manually put the selector in 3rd. It would stall the engine and never shift out of 3rd. This just must be a Ford engineering thing, because all other brands (Chevy, GMC, Jeep, etc.) that I previously owned would always downshift from 3rd but would never up shift to a higher gear than 3rd. It seems crazy to me too. But, then I also think it's crazy to have to push the headlight dimmer switch handle away from you to get high beam headlights on a Ford. Geeeeeze, who thought that one up. All the other vehicles I have ever driven, since they put the dimmer switch on the steering column, would dim the lights when you pulled it to you then the next time you pulled it the lights would go to bright. I really like my 2008 F250 SD Ford truck, and would probably buy another Ford truck if I needed one; but, these two things still just drive me nuts about a Ford.

richfaa · 11-08-2009, 12:28 PM

Hummmmm. I never noticed that. I will look at that tomorrow.

mlh · 11-08-2009, 01:07 PM

If you put your tork****t Ford tranny in 3rd gear it will start out in 3rd. There is nothing wrong with your transmision, that is, if you didn't over heat it by starting out in 3rd gear.
Lynwood

clutch · 11-08-2009, 03:11 PM

Mlh is correct when he says don't over heat the tranny. I am sure that feature is not intended to start out with a heavy load.

HamRad · 11-08-2009, 03:25 PM

I've had two Ford SuperDuty pickups. Our first one was a 2000 250PSD. When I put the transmission in 1st gear and it would start in 1st and stay in first. When I put it in 2nd gear it would start in 1st and then when the time was right it would shift into 2nd. When I put it in Drive it would start in 1st and work its way up to Drive. Unfortunately we went thru three transmissions and the springs were just too weak to support the pin weight.

We then traded for a 2002 450PSD. Interestingly the 450 has exactly the same engine (7.3) and transmission. The 450, of course, has much stiffer springs so we have no pin weight problems. The transmission in the 450 works the same way as the 250.

We have different gearing in the rear end. We have the 4.88 gears. So far we have not had any transmission problems. I thought we'd have worse fuel mileage with the 4.88 rear end but so far it is almost identical to the 250. We get about 10 to 12 mpg towing.

HamRad

**Carl n Susan** · 11-08-2009, 03:28 PM

Well I went searching and found the topic in the Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forum

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/890189-08-f350-auto-transmission-question.html

The basic info is:

3 (Third)
Transmission starts and operates in third gear only.
Used for improved traction on slippery roads. Selecting 3 (Third) provides engine braking.

2 (Second)
Use 2 (Second) to start-up on slippery roads or to provide additional engine braking on downgrades.

1 (First)
• Provides maximum engine braking.
• Allows upshifts by moving gearshift lever.
• The transmission will not downshift into 1 (First) at high speeds; it will downshift to a lower gear and then

HamRad · 11-08-2009, 03:41 PM

Carl,
We have an older truck so I'm wondering if they've changed the way the tranny works? I do NOT have the 'Tow /Haul' feature and no engine braking that I am aware of.

Thanks for the info. Those diesel forums are really good for getting info.
Dennis

Art-n-Marge · 11-08-2009, 03:53 PM

Now that others mention it, I don't think I ever started from a stop in 3rd gear (just 1st, 2nd and Drive), I use 3rd on hills for some tranny speed control even with tow/haul. I'll have to search my book for that little tidbit. I am not sure how I missed that since I'm only one of a few overly cautious owners who actually read owner's manuals front to back just so I hope I don't miss anything. Mentally I may have "thrown out" anything having to do with snow and winter since I have lived in the southwest all my life and avoid areas during extreme winter seasons. Thanks to the MOC, it's always teaching me something.

**Carl n Susan** · 11-08-2009, 05:58 PM

Dennis: I don't know if this is a change nor when it might have occurred. In fact, I haven't even tried it on my 2008 truck. I also didn't try it on my 6.0L 2004 (now long gone) although my sister still has her 2003 7.3 with the newer Tow/Haul tranny. I will try both of them in the next few days.

8e3k0 · 11-09-2009, 02:45 AM

Montana Sky; on your transmission, 1st is first, 2nd is 2nd and 3rd is 3rd and they will stay in that gear and with reason to prevent slippage on slippery terrain specifically to 3rd. Very similar to a manual. Naturally the tranny will not shift from drive down to lower gears manually unless the travelling speed is reduced to prevent over rev and damage to the drivetrain. As of yet I have never had the need to move the selector to the lower gears. If I do I will move around in 4X4 low. I prefer to let the electronics do the work for me otherwise I would of purcahsed a 6 speed manual.

Delaine and Lindy · 11-09-2009, 03:03 AM

Dave (Montana Sky) looks as though there is a learning curve with the Ford transmission. As you know with the Allison, all you have to do is put it in Tow haul mode and the Allison will do the thinking and the work for you. Good Luck with the transition. GBY.....

richfaa · 11-09-2009, 04:09 AM

Yes that is the way it works...fooled with it today..Stays in the gear selected. We were solo and it started out in 3rd just fine, no loss of power but the RPM's go up fast. At 45MPH we were over 3000 rpm but it ran fine. Don't think it would work to well if the 3400 anchor was connected. We have never manually dropped down a gear. When towing we let T/H mode do the work. The couple of times we had to use 4X4 we left it in "D" and let he xmittion do the thinking. Must be a culture shock changing trucks ot to mention changing to one with all the new EPA restrictions,

Montana Sky · 11-09-2009, 02:32 PM

Rich,
you have no idea how often I find myself comparing this Ford to my old Chevy. There are many things I liked better on my Chevy, but there are a few things I just love about this Ford. The regen process is what has me most frustrated. It seems to always kick on as soon as I am pulling into my driveway. LOL! The trip to Chicago this past weekend averaged out at 14.1 mpg. Hopefully things will continue upward into the 18 mpg range before too long. As much as I like this 350, I'm already looking at going to the 450. The 450 opens up more selection of 5th wheels to go full time with.

adelmoll · 11-10-2009, 12:07 AM

Dave, we tested a 450 and after only one mile on the freeway I knew that I would not be able to ride in this truck for long. It is a much rougher ride than the 350 and we were told that the mileage is much lower. We do get at least 18mpg without the Big Sky behind us.

Helen

richfaa · 11-10-2009, 02:22 PM

Tell you what Dave as found out after being weighed that 3400 can be very heavy. Note that my 08 F-350 weighed in at 9250 lbs. That is one heavy truck. Regen takes getting accustomed to. We are at 27,450 miles on the 08 and do 15/18mpg at 62/65mph on interstates solo. The MPG drops with each additional 5 mph. IMO the new model Montana's and for sure the Big Sky require a bigger truck.At the fall rally weigh in the truck was 9250 and the 3400 was 15,300 total 24,550..our GCVW is 23,500lbs. we were 1050 over(4:10 diff)If we had a Chevy truck, about 700 lbs lighter we would have been in good shape. We did have over 60 gals of water aboard and we went home and lost many pounds of useless stuff to get below spec's. The truck is heavy and the 3400 can be a shocker.. Those weights were after we went to the 8K rated or Ryde IS system...

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